[Osmf-talk] Reaching out and diversity (Was: Re: AGM and board elections)

[Tom MacWright]

Okay so,

I don't want to make this too specific: sexism is a big, culture-wide
problem. Linking a mailing list post, or an irc conversation, or recalling
an extremely sexist remark made in private - all of which I can recall off
the top of my head - would turn it into a personal witch hunt. It's also on
me, because I should moderate or call out inappropriate language on mailing
lists, but like others I can't read mailing lists and also stay sane.

Dear men: the big mistake we could make and need to avoid is to look at
recent mailing list postings, not see anyone blatantly bashing women, and
assume there's not a problem. Sexism happens in quiet ways publicly and
loud ways privately - off-list posts, quick exchanges on IRC, sexual
harassment at every tech conference ever. Outing those encounters can be
socially impossible, or it can even be a legal matter. This is one place
where [citation needed] is incredibly inappropriate.

We need common-sense structure: code of conducts, moderation of insensitive
language, diversity as a priority in leadership and membership, stronger
rules of what's appropriate behavior. If a community member is the target
of harassment, what do we do - hope the mailing list solves it? No: to
graduate from the wild west into a place where everyone can live, we need
to try harder.

These are basic, obvious, non-controversial things other groups have
already done, and we need to catch up.

On Fri, Sep 26, 2014 at 10:17 AM, Tim Waters <chippy2005 at gmail.com> wrote:

> There is not much that I can say except that "I am a dude and an ally"
> https://twitter.com/KathleenLD/status/515464880535920640
>
> I think that most members realise that this is a sensitive issue and many
> may be afraid of contributing to the discussion because by doing so they
> might hurt someone. I know people who prefer to remain silent on these
> issues because it's the safer course of action.
> I'd like it if we could have a safe place to discuss these things without
> falling into the same old traps. I don't know how best that could happen.
>
> I do know that there is a diversity mailing list and it's very low volume
> - so perhaps I can encourage people to help increase the level of
> discussions at that place.
>
> Regards,
>
> Tim
>
> On 26 September 2014 14:42, Ben Abelshausen <ben.abelshausen at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I must confess that I never understood the problem but I think my eyes
>> have opened recently. I'm reposting the article Kate posted:
>>
>> http://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/4291/3381
>>
>> Cannot recommend this read enough. Come to think about it, I may even
>> have (unintentionally) contributed to the problem on one or two occasions,
>> my apologies for that.
>>
>> Also considering myself an ally but not sure at all how we can improve...
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Ben
>>
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>
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